Arson Suspected At Mtv Event That Left 2 Dead

November 26, 1994|Los Angeles Times

WARSAW, Poland - — Authorities suspect a fire that killed two people Thursday night at a big-screen telecast of the MTV European Music Awards in the port city of Gdansk was intentionally set, police said on Friday.

"It is too early to say it was arson, but everything so far indicates that it was," said Wojciech Deptula, spokesman for the Gdansk regional police. "That is what all the witnesses say."

A 13-year-old girl was trampled to death when panicked fans fled through a narrow doorway in the burning concert hall, located in the Gdansk Shipyard, birthplace of the Solidarity mass labor movement.

A second victim, thought to be a woman, was found burned beyond recognition in the charred ruins of the building, police said.

More than 300 people were injured in the blaze, including two firefighters. Two hundred people remained hospitalized on Friday, including 16 in critical condition, the Gdansk provincial governor's office said.

About 700 rock fans had packed the concert hall to watch a live satellite broadcast of the music awards, which were presented late Thursday night and early Friday in Berlin. The Gdansk event was organized by a local radio station.

It took firefighters three hours to bring the blaze under control; it burned dangerously close to the shipyard's chemical storage tanks, although it did not spread beyond the concert hall. Evacuation of the burning building was delayed, some accounts said, because fans initially thought the fire was part of the show.

Several witnesses told police that youths had been seen spilling flammable liquids in the hall prior to the fire. Others said a Molotov cocktail had been thrown into the building, and there were reports of a man with a bottle of gasoline jumping on the stage.

"We have put together a portrait of a suspected arsonist," Deptula said. "But the building is still being inspected by a team of arson specialists."